Actuating means for colorimetric apparatus



March 9, 1948 w. F. PECK ETAL ACTUATING MEANS FOR COLORIMETRIC APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 19, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 E Y P m M m5 R 7 V E pm 0 U E 9 m e T J TM .A 3 5 Q 6 I 7 I w I7 3 a I A H a N in ,4 M 4 o 9 5 4 HI I 5 F! 4 March 9, 1948. w E ECK ETAL 2,437,550

ACTUATING MEANS FOR COLORIMETRIC APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 19, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a R I r a n I 4 I 1 i Q umui' 21 Patented Mar. 9, 1948 ACTUATING MEANS FOR COLORIMETRIC APPARATUS William F. Peck, Buffalo, and Kennard W. Harper, East Aurora, N. Y., and Roger S. Estey, Arlington, Va., assignors, by mesne assignments, to American Optical Company, Southbridge, Mass., a voluntary association Original application February 19, 1941, Serial N 0. 379,688. Divided and this application April 28, 1944, Serial No. 533,134

(Cl. 8B14) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to colorimetric apparatus and has particular reference to a combined haemoglobinometer and micro-colorimeter.

This application is a division of our application, Serial No. 379,688, filed February 19, 1941, which issued as Patent No. 2,353,716 on July 18,

An object of the invention is to provide a colorimetric apparatus so constructed that the scale reading may be viewed from a position near the eyepiece.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that many changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims. We therefore do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described as the preferred form has been shown by way of illustration only.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a sectional view of a colorimetric apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a cross section of the plunger securing means;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective view showing the prism in its support.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the device comprises a base i supporting the upright upport 2, the housing 3 and eyepiece 4.

In the base member i is positioned the lamp 5 our d to the socket B and adapted to receive current through the wires 1 from the usual current supply. The wires I extend through a slot in the base I. The lamp 5 and socket 6 are secured o the wall of the base I adjacent the slot by means of the member 8 which has a threaded portion in engagement with the hollow threaded member 9 and also in threaded connection with the threaded extension 53 on the socket B.

The said base I also has in its upper face an opcning ill or r which is placed a light diffusing screen or the kc II. In said base is placed a vertical partition l2 separating the lamp chamber from the remainder of the base and preventing light from entering the remainder of the base except through the opening l3 in said vertical partition l2. If desired, said opening [3 may also be provided with a circumferential flange M to direct the light as hereinafter described.

The upright support 2 is secured at its lower "end to the upper portion of the base I and has the marginal flanges l5 on either side thereof. On the upright support 2 is secured a bearing plate 30 which extends the width of said member 2 and is of substantially the height of the outer bearing plate 16. The edges of said bearing plate 30 are secured to the supports or blocks I1 and I8. These blocks or supports I! and I8 may be formed integral with the bearing plate 30 or may be secured thereto by other suitable means.

There is provided a pair of rack members l9 and 20 adapted to slide between the bearing plate 30 on the upright 2 and the outer bearing plate l6 and having portions 2| and 22 formed with teeth adapted to be moved by the pinion 23 which is positioned adjacent the lower edge of said bearing plate l5. Adjacent the upper edge of said bearing plates l6 and 30 is provided the spacing member 24 which may be formed integral with the first bearing plate 30 or formed separate and secured thereto by screws or the like. This spacing member 24 is of such width that the racks I9 and 20 are held parallel with each other so that they can be moved up or down by movement of the dial 25 which is secured to the shaft 25 on which shaft is also positioned the pinion 23. A reference or fiduciary member 52 is positioned adjacent the dial 25 for use in reading said dial.

The supporting members H and is have secured thereto by means of screws or the like 21 the bent blade spring members 28 having portions 29 adapted to bear against the outer edges of the racks I9 and 20 to keep the upper portions of said rack members in engagement with said spacing member 24 and the toothed portions thereof in engagement with the pinion 23. It is pointed out that because of the spring members 28 there may be considerable tolerance in the width of the rack members 19 and 29 without disturbing the operation of the instrument as any such tolerance or variation is taken up by said spring members.

Secured to the lower portions of the rack members i9 and 20 are the cup supports 3|. These although they may be formed of any desired ma terial so long as they have transparent bottoms adapted to be positioned over openings 34 on the cup supports to allow light to pass therethrough.

The eyepiece tube 4 contains the conventional eyepiece 54 adapted to be focused by raising or lowering the tube by grasping the upper flange thereof 35 with the fingers.

The body member 3 has the flange or shield 36 adapted to prevent the entering of external light into the optical elements of the instrument. In this body member 3 is supported the prism member which is removably positioned in the prism support, which support is adjustable as a unit an comprises a block 38 to which is secured the resilient member 39 including the resilient fingers 4|! adapted to retain the prism in the support. The block 38 is adjustably secured to the body 3 of the instrument by means of screws or thelike 4|. It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 7 that by removing the eyepiece assembly 4 the prism may be removed from the resilient support and from the instrument for cleaning or the like andv then replaced therein without disturbing its adjusted position in the instrument.

The screws 4| project through slots in the wall of the housing 3 and these slots permit horizontal and vertical adjustment of the prism assembly.

Adjacent the lower edge of the housing 3 are supported the plungers 42 and 43. These plungers are removably secured to the lower portion of said housing by a connection shown in detail in Figs. and 6 and comprising two threaded telescoping members 44 and 45. The members 44 and 45 have threaded portions adapted to threadedly engage with each other and there is provided a member 46 having the vertical Slots 41 adapted to provide this member 46 with the desired resiliency. The member 46 has a central lbore adapted to be aligned with openings in the members 44 and 45. Also the said member 46 has tapered portions adjacent its outer ends adapted to engage correspondingly tapered portions surrounding the openings in the members 44 and. The plunger members 42 and 43 are preferably formed of glass or other transparent material to allow the passage of light therethrough and as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 extend into the aligned openings in said members 44, 45 and 46 and then by tightening the screw connection between the members 44 and 45 the member 46 is compressed and due to the slots 41 firmly clamps the plunger 42 in adjusted position. It will be readily seen that because of the simple operation of this clamp arrangement, by merely loosening the member 45 the plunger member 42 may be raised or lowered to desired adjustment and then by tightening the said member 45 the plunger will be clamped or locked in said adjusted position.

It is pointed out that because the clamp engages the plunger at two separated points the axial alignment of the plunger is accurately maintained. Because of the small size of the plungers, accuracy in this alignment is important.

It is also pointed out that the member 44 may be formed separate or integral with the lower wall of the body 3 as desired.

Secured to the upper wall of the base and to the upright support 2 adjacent the upper end thereof is provided the upright supporting member 48. This supporting member fits over the dial member 25 so that onl the outer portions of the dial 25 are exposed, as shown in Fig. 2. The said exposed portions of the graduated dial 25 may be turned with the fingers to vary the adjustment of the cups and plungers.

This member 48 tapers in size from the bottom to the top as seen in the sectional view in Fig, 1 and has -a substantially U-shaped center bend as will be seen from Fig. 4. In the portion of the upper wall of the base surrounded by this U- shaped portion of the member 48 is provided a cut-out portion 49 covered by a window of glass or the like 53, below which opening 49 is positioned a mirror or reflector 5| which is positioned at such an angle that images therein may be seen from a point adjacent the eyepiece. The dial 25 is of a translucent or transparent material having reference marks thereon which are illuminated by light coming from the lamp 5 through the opening H3 in the partition l2 and are seen in the reflector 5| from a position a-djacent the eyepiece of the instrument.

It will be noted that the supporting structure 48 surrounds on three sides the opening 49 in the casing through which the reading is made so that it substantially eliminates extraneous light, etc. from said opening and thereby increases the visibility of such readings. Also that because of its shape such structure acts as an angle bar and gives added support to the upright 2 while at the same time increasing the visibility of the scale reading as stated above.

From the above it will be seen that we have provided simple, eflicient and economical means for obtaining all of the advantages of the invention.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. In a structure for use in a colorimeter for comparing a specimen with a standard and comprising means for simultaneously and progressively alterin the light transmission characteristics of each relative to the other, the combination of a source of illumination, 2. base housing said source and being apertured for allowing light to pass therethrough for illuminating said specimen and standard, a rotatable actuator positioned above said base, means mounting said actuator on said base. said actuator being adapted to be connected to said first mentioned means for actuating same for progressively altering said light characteristics, said actuator carrying a dial of light transmitting material concentric therewith, said dial bearing indicia thereon and having a portion thereof extending through a second aperture in. said base, an index member in said base and adjacent said portion for cooperating with said indicia to indicate the angular position of said actuator, a partition in said base having an aperture for the passage of light from said light source to said portion of said dial adjacent said index member, and viewing means in said base for viewing said portion of the dial from a position adjacent the position of the coloriineter operators eye while observing the light transmission characteristics of the specimen and standard.

2. In a structure for use in a colorimeter having a holder for a specimen which is to be compared with a. standard and having apparatus for simultaneously and progressively varying the light transmission characteristics of the specimen and standard relative to each other, the combination of a base for supporting said holder, said standard and said apparatus, a source of illumination for said specimen and standard housed in said base, said base being apertured for allowing light to pass therethrough for illuminating said specimen and standard, an actuator adapted to be connected to said apparatus for operating the same, means for mounting said actuator on said base, scale means movable with said actuator and so positioned above said base that a portion thereof extends through a second aperture in said base, said portion being adjacent and arranged to cooperate with an index member within the base, a partition in the base between 20 said source of illumination and said scale means and having an aperture therein for passing light to the portion of the scale means adjacent said index member, and viewing means in said base for viewing said portion of the scale means and index from a position adjacent the position of the colorimeter operators eye while observing the light transmission characteristics of the specimen and standard.

WILLIAM F. PECK.

KENNARD W. HARPER.

ROGER S. ESTEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,244,839 Hellige June 10, 1941 2,353,716 Estey et al July 18, 1944 

